Messages on a Window
Title: Messages on a Window
Genre: Romance, Fluff
Word Count: 1,609
Character(s)/Pairing(s): America/England
Rating/Warnings: PG
Summary: Two neighbours who live too close for comfort finds romance.
Arthur's Side.
It wasn't the ideal bedroom.
The room is a small, simple one with a lovely shade of blue painted over the walls. There was a large picture window at the front that overlooked the main street, and a much smaller double-hung window by the side. The room was cozy and had a nice set of furniture to go along with. It would have been perfect, if not for the fact that the house was built too close to the neighbour's and he could very easily see into the room that aligned with his – which meant that whoever in that room could very easily see into his room too, something which Arthur wasn't very comfortable with. And even then he wouldn't have minded it all that much, but the person living in that room just happened to be a boy around his age named Alfred F. Jones, which was a very big minus, mind you.
Where should he begin? For one, Alfred was far too extroverted for his liking. Since the day he moved in, Alfred did not even consider the fact that he might want a little privacy and just reached over to pull up Arthur's window to greet him.
“Hiya, new neighbour! The name's Alfred. What's yours?”
Needless to say, Alfred hadn't left a very good first impression on him. The days that followed didn't exactly help either. Not only was he too extroverted, but he was extremely loud and a bit of a show-off as well, constantly inventing new ways to attract the attention of others. It was annoying, but still tolerable with a few cups of calming Earl Grey and a few unpleasant words towards Alfred on occasion. Many occasions.
Alfred had his days, of course. Days when Arthur would think maybe having him as his neighbour was not as bad as he originally thought. Those days don't come often, but when they do, it was usually after he had a row with his parents or his brothers. Alfred, being the nosy neighbour that he is, would hear the shouting and pull up the mere two windows that separated them to try cheer him up – usually with a really bad pun joke or with an assurance that tomorrow will definitely be a better day. It works, but it was mostly because Alfred has such an earnest grin on his face while he does it that Arthur couldn't help but smile as well. Those days, he was glad to be able to have a person he could call 'a friend'.
But overtime, something tugged at his heartstrings whenever he thought of Alfred as a friend. He didn't know the exact word to describe that feeling until the night came when Alfred suddenly announced that there was going to be a 'totally awesome' meteor shower happening and invited him over onto his rooftop to watch. It was chilly out then and Arthur wasn't sure what made him agreed to such an idiotic plan that could very likely make him sick the next morning but he did. It was mostly because of Alfred's persistence that he relented, he told himself.
They watched the night sky and waited in the cold like fools, but Arthur had to admit that, for once, he was the bigger fool for not bringing out a coat and insisting that he didn't need it because he was far too prideful to admit to feeling cold. Alfred watched him and when he finally couldn't hold in a sneeze, he didn't hesitate to take off his jacket and put it around Arthur's shoulder with a wide smile. As cliche as this is going to sound, just as Alfred smiled, the meteor shower happened and Arthur's eyes widened, both at how beautiful his friend looked in the brilliant light and at the realisation that he had fallen in love. When he finally got himself to turn away, he didn't dare look at Alfred for the rest of the night.
It was an emotion he didn't want to have labelled.
Winter came soon enough and snow started to fall. It was absolutely freezing but that didn't stop Alfred from pulling up his window every day to wish him a good morning. Arthur didn't appreciate that very much of course, since every time his window opens, it felt like the temperature in the room dropped a couple of degrees. He often lamented Alfred for it as well, and said that if he finally does catch a cold, he doesn't want to hear his whining. Alfred would just wave it off and with a roll of his eyes, say: Yes, mom. Arthur would huff at him but whenever Alfred turn away, there would be a small smile on his lips.
Then, a different morning came. It was different in the sense that unlike what Alfred usually does, which was to be completely inconsiderate and just pull up the window to greet a good morning, he knocked on the glass of the window. Gently. Both things which surprised Arthur and made him thought that he might be imagining the sound. But when he looked towards the window, there was Alfred with his usual bright smile. Sighing, Arthur decided to just play along and pull up his window.
“Are you an idiot? It's bloody freezing out here,” he said, noticing the snow that was beginning to pile on Alfred's hair. He shook the snow off though and Arthur most certainly did not think that it was cute.
“Maybe...” Alfred began in a mutter and Arthur quirked an eyebrow. This was new... Alfred actually not protesting to being called an idiot. “Anyway, I have something very important to tell you.”
“A good morning isn't very important, now hurry back in,” Arthur replied, already making a move to shut his window. “I don't want to have the blame pushed onto me when you–...”
The feeling of something very warm and soft against his lips stopped him from continuing to speak. He stared at Alfred, whose eyes were closed and whose face was suddenly very close to his. So much so that he could feel his breath brushing across his upper lip. It took him a while but he finally came to the dumbfounding conclusion that Alfred was kissing him. Just as he realised that however, Alfred pulled away, abruptly ending the kiss that started just as abruptly.
Alfred withdrew into his room and for a while, rubbed at the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. There was a light pink to his cheeks that Arthur was sure reflected his own's, if the heat on his face was any indication. Alfred pulled down his own bedroom window and all Arthur could do throughout the process was to stare, stunned.
Alfred bit his lip, seemingly unsure, before he blew a breath over the glass of his window and began to write something. Being the inconsiderate person that he is, he didn't bother to write it for the reader's convenience of course, but Arthur could still easily make out the message.
I kind of really like you.
If his heart wasn't beating rapidly before, it certainly was now. His gaze shifted from those simple words to Alfred, who had on him a smile. A smile that was sincere, hopeful, nervous, cheeky and bashful all at the same time. Arthur blushed even more, something he had been doing too much of lately and berated himself for it, and had to look away simply out of embarrassment. Too surprised and nervous to form a reply, he walked away without saying a word or even so much of a glance at Alfred.
Alfred's Side.
Alfred's smile slowly dropped as Arthur disappeared into his room. His heart, that had been beating so fast before, now sunk and his chest tightened uncomfortably. He pouted, stuffed his hands into his jeans' pockets and mindlessly kicked at his bedroom floor repeatedly. Whatever fantasies he had of being able to pull Arthur over to his room and hold him close was crushed within just a mere second. Suddenly feeling very much exhausted even though he had a good night's sleep before, he got into his bed and buried himself in the comfort of his blanket, not really in the mood to spend the rest of the day and wanting to just sleep it all off. He lay in bed for a while, numerous thoughts in his head, before he finally wore himself out from thinking and finally fell asleep.
When he woke up, his room was already dark, a sign that night has fallen. Alfred stared up at his ceiling and for some time, thought about what he should do. He knew he still wanted to be around Arthur and see the smile that had remained on his mind for quite some time now – the one he saw when he gave Arthur his jacket during that night when the sky was decorated with streaks of light. It was small and brief, but he caught it and couldn't forget about it ever since then. With that in mind, he gathered his courage and got up, walking over to the window with the intention to apologise and ask Arthur if they could still be friends. He was disappointed though when he saw that Arthur's room was dark and thought that he must have already fallen asleep. He was just about to walk away when something brightly coloured at the bottom corner of Arthur's bedroom window caught his eyes. It was a yellow sticky note. He squinted and saw on it, in small writing:
I think I kind of really like you, too.
Author's Note: Written for the USxUK Short Story Anthology over at the
usxuk community!
Genre: Romance, Fluff
Word Count: 1,609
Character(s)/Pairing(s): America/England
Rating/Warnings: PG
Summary: Two neighbours who live too close for comfort finds romance.
It wasn't the ideal bedroom.
The room is a small, simple one with a lovely shade of blue painted over the walls. There was a large picture window at the front that overlooked the main street, and a much smaller double-hung window by the side. The room was cozy and had a nice set of furniture to go along with. It would have been perfect, if not for the fact that the house was built too close to the neighbour's and he could very easily see into the room that aligned with his – which meant that whoever in that room could very easily see into his room too, something which Arthur wasn't very comfortable with. And even then he wouldn't have minded it all that much, but the person living in that room just happened to be a boy around his age named Alfred F. Jones, which was a very big minus, mind you.
Where should he begin? For one, Alfred was far too extroverted for his liking. Since the day he moved in, Alfred did not even consider the fact that he might want a little privacy and just reached over to pull up Arthur's window to greet him.
“Hiya, new neighbour! The name's Alfred. What's yours?”
Needless to say, Alfred hadn't left a very good first impression on him. The days that followed didn't exactly help either. Not only was he too extroverted, but he was extremely loud and a bit of a show-off as well, constantly inventing new ways to attract the attention of others. It was annoying, but still tolerable with a few cups of calming Earl Grey and a few unpleasant words towards Alfred on occasion. Many occasions.
Alfred had his days, of course. Days when Arthur would think maybe having him as his neighbour was not as bad as he originally thought. Those days don't come often, but when they do, it was usually after he had a row with his parents or his brothers. Alfred, being the nosy neighbour that he is, would hear the shouting and pull up the mere two windows that separated them to try cheer him up – usually with a really bad pun joke or with an assurance that tomorrow will definitely be a better day. It works, but it was mostly because Alfred has such an earnest grin on his face while he does it that Arthur couldn't help but smile as well. Those days, he was glad to be able to have a person he could call 'a friend'.
But overtime, something tugged at his heartstrings whenever he thought of Alfred as a friend. He didn't know the exact word to describe that feeling until the night came when Alfred suddenly announced that there was going to be a 'totally awesome' meteor shower happening and invited him over onto his rooftop to watch. It was chilly out then and Arthur wasn't sure what made him agreed to such an idiotic plan that could very likely make him sick the next morning but he did. It was mostly because of Alfred's persistence that he relented, he told himself.
They watched the night sky and waited in the cold like fools, but Arthur had to admit that, for once, he was the bigger fool for not bringing out a coat and insisting that he didn't need it because he was far too prideful to admit to feeling cold. Alfred watched him and when he finally couldn't hold in a sneeze, he didn't hesitate to take off his jacket and put it around Arthur's shoulder with a wide smile. As cliche as this is going to sound, just as Alfred smiled, the meteor shower happened and Arthur's eyes widened, both at how beautiful his friend looked in the brilliant light and at the realisation that he had fallen in love. When he finally got himself to turn away, he didn't dare look at Alfred for the rest of the night.
It was an emotion he didn't want to have labelled.
Winter came soon enough and snow started to fall. It was absolutely freezing but that didn't stop Alfred from pulling up his window every day to wish him a good morning. Arthur didn't appreciate that very much of course, since every time his window opens, it felt like the temperature in the room dropped a couple of degrees. He often lamented Alfred for it as well, and said that if he finally does catch a cold, he doesn't want to hear his whining. Alfred would just wave it off and with a roll of his eyes, say: Yes, mom. Arthur would huff at him but whenever Alfred turn away, there would be a small smile on his lips.
Then, a different morning came. It was different in the sense that unlike what Alfred usually does, which was to be completely inconsiderate and just pull up the window to greet a good morning, he knocked on the glass of the window. Gently. Both things which surprised Arthur and made him thought that he might be imagining the sound. But when he looked towards the window, there was Alfred with his usual bright smile. Sighing, Arthur decided to just play along and pull up his window.
“Are you an idiot? It's bloody freezing out here,” he said, noticing the snow that was beginning to pile on Alfred's hair. He shook the snow off though and Arthur most certainly did not think that it was cute.
“Maybe...” Alfred began in a mutter and Arthur quirked an eyebrow. This was new... Alfred actually not protesting to being called an idiot. “Anyway, I have something very important to tell you.”
“A good morning isn't very important, now hurry back in,” Arthur replied, already making a move to shut his window. “I don't want to have the blame pushed onto me when you–...”
The feeling of something very warm and soft against his lips stopped him from continuing to speak. He stared at Alfred, whose eyes were closed and whose face was suddenly very close to his. So much so that he could feel his breath brushing across his upper lip. It took him a while but he finally came to the dumbfounding conclusion that Alfred was kissing him. Just as he realised that however, Alfred pulled away, abruptly ending the kiss that started just as abruptly.
Alfred withdrew into his room and for a while, rubbed at the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. There was a light pink to his cheeks that Arthur was sure reflected his own's, if the heat on his face was any indication. Alfred pulled down his own bedroom window and all Arthur could do throughout the process was to stare, stunned.
Alfred bit his lip, seemingly unsure, before he blew a breath over the glass of his window and began to write something. Being the inconsiderate person that he is, he didn't bother to write it for the reader's convenience of course, but Arthur could still easily make out the message.
I kind of really like you.
If his heart wasn't beating rapidly before, it certainly was now. His gaze shifted from those simple words to Alfred, who had on him a smile. A smile that was sincere, hopeful, nervous, cheeky and bashful all at the same time. Arthur blushed even more, something he had been doing too much of lately and berated himself for it, and had to look away simply out of embarrassment. Too surprised and nervous to form a reply, he walked away without saying a word or even so much of a glance at Alfred.
Alfred's smile slowly dropped as Arthur disappeared into his room. His heart, that had been beating so fast before, now sunk and his chest tightened uncomfortably. He pouted, stuffed his hands into his jeans' pockets and mindlessly kicked at his bedroom floor repeatedly. Whatever fantasies he had of being able to pull Arthur over to his room and hold him close was crushed within just a mere second. Suddenly feeling very much exhausted even though he had a good night's sleep before, he got into his bed and buried himself in the comfort of his blanket, not really in the mood to spend the rest of the day and wanting to just sleep it all off. He lay in bed for a while, numerous thoughts in his head, before he finally wore himself out from thinking and finally fell asleep.
When he woke up, his room was already dark, a sign that night has fallen. Alfred stared up at his ceiling and for some time, thought about what he should do. He knew he still wanted to be around Arthur and see the smile that had remained on his mind for quite some time now – the one he saw when he gave Arthur his jacket during that night when the sky was decorated with streaks of light. It was small and brief, but he caught it and couldn't forget about it ever since then. With that in mind, he gathered his courage and got up, walking over to the window with the intention to apologise and ask Arthur if they could still be friends. He was disappointed though when he saw that Arthur's room was dark and thought that he must have already fallen asleep. He was just about to walk away when something brightly coloured at the bottom corner of Arthur's bedroom window caught his eyes. It was a yellow sticky note. He squinted and saw on it, in small writing:
I think I kind of really like you, too.
Author's Note: Written for the USxUK Short Story Anthology over at the
usxuk community!